曾子衣敝衣以耕。魯君使人往致邑焉，曰:“請以此修衣。”曾子不受，反，復往，又不受。使者曰:“先生非求於人，人則獻之，奚為不受？”曾子曰:“臣聞之，‘受人者畏人；予人者驕人。’縱子有賜，不我驕也，我能勿畏乎？”終不受。孔子聞之，曰：“參之言足以全其節也。”

Zeng Shen tilled on the field in rags. The Duke of Lu sent an emissary to offer Zeng a fief of a town and told him to buy a decent piece of clothing with the revenue from it. Zeng did not accept, so the emissary returned. Later, the emissary came again, but Zeng still refused to accept the gift. The emissary wondered, "Mr. Zeng, you are not asking for the fief; this is the gift that the Duke gives to you. Why don't you accept it?" Zeng said, "I have heard that once a person accepts gifts from others, he would be cautious not to offend them; even the Duke is not supercilious toward me for giving me a fief, but how could I not fear of him ever since?" Eventually, Zeng rejected the gift. Upon being informed of the story, Confucious commented, "The remarks of Shen have maintained his integrity."